This invention relates to the production of carbonated candy which is a hard candy containing carbon dioxide gas as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,012,893 and U.S. Ser. No. 618,603 which are herein incorporated by reference. Such a candy is made by the process which comprises fusing a fusible sugar, contacting such fusible sugar with gas at a pressure of 50- 1000 p.s.i.g. for a time sufficient to permit absorption in said sugar of 0.5-15 milliliters of gas per gram of sugar, maintaining the temperature of said sugar during said absorption above the solidification temperature of said fused sugar and cooling said sugar under pressure to a temperature less than its fusing temperature thereby obtaining a gas-containing solid.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,012,893, the process is carried out within a Parr reactor (a thick-shelled pressure vessel having a stirrer). The temperature of the mixture in the Parr reactor is generally maintained above 212.degree. F. Carbon dioxide, which is the preferred gas, is admitted to the reactor to pressurize it to 600 p.s.i.g. The mixture is then agitated for 5 to 10 minutes. The 600 p.s.i.g. is maintained within the reactor and it is cooled to about 70.degree. F. The Parr reactor is now opened and the product within must be removed manually by breaking it into small sections with means such as an ice pick. Pieces of carbonated candy thus removed vary greatly in size.
U.S. Ser. No. 618,603 discloses a method of cooling the hot melt in a separate pressure vessel. The removal of the solidified candy is still a difficult task. The cooling vessel must be impacted to break the solidified mass. Such impact usually causes a major portion of the solid matrix to be reduced to granular form. However, much material remains adhering to the walls of the pressure vessel. Occasionally large amounts of product remain segmented or isolated within the tube. It is then necessary to manually remove the solidified product from the tube. Often the product is so tightly packed in the tube that the only viable method of removal is to wash down the entire cooling tube. The above problems result in non-uniform product quality and size and, of course, much waste and loss of production.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable if a simple method were devised which would permit complete uniform removal of the product from the cooling tube.